authenticate via oauth2 and read a person record from the familysearch family tree api
domain: familysearch.org · 6 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
Sampled — shipped under file-level sampling, not individually fact-checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Steps
Register a developer app at developers.familysearch.org to get a client_id; new keys are auto-enabled for the Integration (sandbox) environment only
For web/desktop/mobile apps, call the Authorization resource to redirect the user to the FamilySearch login page with your redirect_uri, receiving an authorization_code back
POST /cis-web/oauth2/v3/token with grant_type=authorization_code, the code, redirect_uri and client_id to get an access_token
For unattended/limited access, use grant_type=unauthenticated_session instead (only works against a small allow-list of resources like Places, Person Search, Date Authority)
Call GET /platform/tree/persons/{id} with Accept: application/x-gedcomx-v1+json and Authorization: Bearer {access_token}
Parse the returned gedcomx document's persons[] array for names, facts (type URIs like http://gedcomx.org/Birth), gender, living flag, and links to spouses/parents/children/sources
Known gotchas
Access tokens expire 24h after issue or after 60 continuous minutes of inactivity; refresh tokens require PKCE plus offline_access scope or the 'private computer' checkbox
Beta and Production API access are gated behind FamilySearch's Compatible Solution Program and a Compatibility Review — sandbox/Integration access is automatic but production Family Tree data is not
client_credentials grant is not available for general use; special permission from FamilySearch developer support is required before it works
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